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ASU Wins Eighth Straight with Victory over Oregon State

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Freshman James Harden scored 24 points as Arizona State won its eighth consecutive game by beating Oregon State 72-53 Saturday.

Jeff Pendergraph added 18 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Sun Devils (12-2), who are off to their first 2-0 start in Pac-10 play since the 1987-88 season and their third since joining the conference 30 years ago.

Seth Tarver scored 14 and Omari Johnson added 11 for the Beavers (6-8, 0-2), who have lost four straight and five of their last six.

Harden, who entered the game seventh in the conference in scoring at 17.6 points per game, finished 8-for-13 from the floor in recording his seventh 20-point game. Pendergraph as 6-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Pendergraph scored four points and Jerren Shipp added a layup as Arizona State opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 38-24 lead with 17:10 left.

Oregon State cut the lead to nine on Johnson's 3-pointer with 13:39 remaining.

But Shipp converted a three-point play and Pendergraph added four points as the Sun Devils outscored the Beavers 9-3 over the next three minutes to open a 49-34 lead.

Arizona State, which was 15-of-16 from the free-throw line in the second half, led by as many as 20 in the closing minutes.

Harden was 6-of-10 from the floor in the first half while his teammates combined to make only 5-of-14 attempts as the Sun Devils led 32-24 at halftime.